Draft Analysis: Jimmy Horn Jr.

April 18, 2025 /
  • Height: 5’8″
  • Weight: 174 lbs.
  • College: Colorado
  • Tape watched: UCF, Kansas State, Arizona, Baylor, North Dakota State
  • NFL Comparison: Tyler Scott

Pros

  • Short Area Quickness

The only real calling card Jimmy Horn Jr. possesses is his stop-start and burst in short spaces. He has great acceleration and lateral agility.

  • Special Teams Contributions

In the last two seasons, Horn Jr. has at least six kick and punt returns each. He has zero muffed returns in his college career. 2022 and 2023 were more favorable stat wise, but Horn Jr. can at least give teams the option and practice reps as a returner.

Midline

  • Route Running

Horn Jr. had an average depth of target of 8.7 during his college career. Heavily used in the screen game, Horn Jr. rarely ran developing routes downfield. With his 94.3% slot rate, he wasn’t asked to challenge defensive backs one on one either.

Horn Jr. has burst through his breaks and showed the ability to stem defenders leverage, but his route tree will be limited due to his size and strength at the next level. He is consistently rerouted and affected by contact.

  • Release

Very few instances of facing press coverage from the slot, Horn Jr. struggles with contact at the line of scrimmage and in his route stems. Defenders simply overpower Horn Jr.

When given a clean release, Horn Jr. does a nice job with his acceleration and low hip mobility turning corners.

  • Hands

After struggling with drops the last two seasons, Horn Jr. seemed to turn a corner in 2024. He lowered his drop rate from an alarming 12.1% to 5.1%. Horn Jr. struggles immensely with contested opportunities. He has minimal aggression at the catch point and crumbles with contact.

Cons

  • Size

Horn Jr. simply lacks the size and functional play strength needed to consistently win at the NFL level. He lacks elite speed and explosion to win with separation, and he is pedestrian after the catch. Horn Jr. is very scheme dependent and looks to be a specialized scenario player.

Overview

Jimmy Horn Jr. is an undersized slot receiver with only one breakout game in 2024. That game happened against FCS North Dakota State where Horn Jr. nearly eclipsed 200 yards and added a touchdown to his belt. This looks to be indicative of Horn Jr’s transition to the NFL. For receivers of his stature to succeed, they need to be elite in other areas, like contested catching, deep speed, or their route tree usage.